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CALGARY, July 10, 2014 /CNW/ - WestJet Encore announced it welcomed its one-millionth guest on board today. The one-millionth guest was on WestJet Encore flight 3101 from Calgary to Fort St. John, which departed Calgary at 5:45 p.m. MDT. WestJet Encore President Ferio Pugliese was on hand to present the lucky guest on board the flight with round trip airfare for two anywhere in WestJet's world.

"This is an important milestone for all of us and we are happy to celebrate with our guests," said Ferio Pugliese, President, WestJet Encore. "Having started service little more than a year ago, we are delighted with the response from the communities we serve and we thank the more than one million guests who have flown with us so far. It is a source of pride for all WestJetters that we have been able to provide service to communities previously isolated from air travel and that our low-cost business model is liberating more Canadians from the high cost of air travel, as we have done throughout our history as an airline."

WestJet Encore began service on June 24, 2013, with three aircraft serving four destinations. Today, WestJet Encore operates 13 aircraft to 18 destinations with more than 100 departures daily. WestJet Encore has orders for 12 more Bombardier Q400 Next Gen aircraft.

On June 26, 2014, WestJet Encore introduced four-times-daily service from Thunder Bay to Toronto, marking the airline's first flight into Toronto Pearson International Airport.

"We are moving quickly, growing our national footprint as an airline and we look forward to providing guests from coast to coast the opportunity to fly WestJet Encore and connect into our broader network of more than 85 destinations in 19 countries, in addition to our growing worldwide network of codeshare and interline partners", concluded Ferio Pugliese.

About WestJet
We are proud to be Canada's most-preferred airline, powered by an award-winning culture of care and recognized as one of the country's top employers. We offer scheduled service to more than 85 destinations in North America, Central America, the Caribbean and Europe. Through our regional airline, WestJet Encore, and with partnerships with airlines representing every major region of the world, we offer our guests more than 120 destinations in more than 20 countries. Leveraging WestJet's extensive network, flight schedule and remarkable guest experience, WestJet Vacations delivers affordable, flexible travel experiences with a variety of accommodation options for every guest. Members of our WestJet Rewards program earn WestJet dollars on flights, vacation packages and more. Our members use WestJet dollars towards the purchase of WestJet flights and vacations packages on any day, at any time, to any WestJet destination with no blackout periods  ̶  even on seat sales. For more information about everything WestJet, please visit westjet.com.

Recent recognition includes:
2014 Interbrand Canada's Best Canadian Brands (Rank #20)
2014 Canada's Most Preferred Airline (Ipsos)
2014 Value Airline of the Year (Air Transport World magazine)
2014/2013/2012 Canada's Most Attractive Employer (Randstad)
2013 Highest equity score: airline, vacation package supplier brands (Harris/Decima EquiTrend Study)
2013 Gold Stevie Award Best Transportation Company (American Business Awards)
2013 Chairman's Circle Award: WestJet Vacations (CPSC)
2013 WestJet RBC MasterCard ranked #1 in Canada (Money Sense magazine)

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SOURCE WestJet